Pages

What to Do When Your Iman Decreases

Have you ever experienced the sweetness of an iman boost and then felt the loss when your iman fluctuates? Sometimes it's because your schedule became busier and you have less time for additional acts of worship. Sometimes you get complacent and lazy. Sometimes you just don't feel it and you wonder what you're not doing right.

But everything happens by Allah's will, so why would He make us go through these phases? In this video, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf explains this phenomenon and advised us to continue doing good deeds and not give up hope on God's generosity and mercy.

"Allah does not weary of giving you reward until you weary of doing the right action. States change in the world... if you are happy all the time you wouldn't appreciate the state [of happiness]... if you are always satiated you wouldn't appreciate it... that's why Allah will distance you from Him. There are times when you will be distant from Allah, you won't be in that state when you're praying the way you should be praying, where you feel that present. There are reasons for that. Allah does that for a reason because if you were always in that state you would forget. And that's part of the nature of this world - forgetting and remembering." — Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

The next time we feel discouraged or feel disappointed in ourselves, remember the words of Prophet Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wasalaam): "The best actions are continuous ones even if they are little..." (Sahih Muslim). Here are some tips for increasing our iman, inshaAllah:

When you've hit a slump, you can always turn to Allah (swt) and make dua.

At the same time, avoid or reduce activities with little benefit like watching too much television or listening to music, especially if they contain things that He dislikes. Try incorporating more Qur'an in your day by listening to it or reading/reciting it. Even something as simple as listening to the Qur'an on YouTube can have a tremendous effect on your day and psyche. The Qur'an is known as a healing for the heart. Don't overwhelm yourself - start with simple ibadah that you find easy to do. Remember this:

"Indeed, Allah does not do injustice, [even] as much as an atom's weight; while if there is a good deed, He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward." (Surah an-Nisa, 40)

Last but not least, keep good company. When we are friends with people of good character and people who try their best to love and obey Allah we will always be inspired them. At the end of the day, it is a conscientious choice we have to make and it all begins with the heart. "... Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves..." (Surah ar-Rad, 11)

Thank you SO much for this post, Sha. I seriously needed this, I can relate to this post so much because I go through periods of time when all of a sudden I feel distant from Allah and not as spiritually enlightened and it gets me frustrated. Sometimes I feel, omg what am I doing wrong??

This post helped a lot. I did talk to an imam about this aaages before, was probably a little too young to fully understand what he said.

But anyway thanks. May Allah bless you always for the posts you write. Really, truly awesome possum.